Foriegn investorschase Ratnakar bank

Interestingly, this small scheduled commercial bank is attracting interest from a whole lot of foreign investors. Kolhapur, Maharashtra-based Ratnakar Bank is the bank in question. State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) has bought a 4.8 per cent stake in this bank, which primarily caters to the districts of Sangli and Kolhapur in Maharashtra. The Economic Times reports that besides SBM, Indocean Fund may have also picked up possibly one per cent stake in the bank, which is raising capital to boost its networth to the Reserve Bank stipulated Rs 300 crore from the current Rs 54 crore. Centrum group has also raised its stake in the bank to about 6.5 per cent. The bank has reportedly priced the share at a premium of Rs 350, which has a face value of Rs 100. These entities have picked up stake in the bank by subscribing to the shares renounced by the existing shareholders in the rights issue. Ratnakar Bank was set up in 1943, and became a scheduled commercial bank in 1956. It currently has 78 branches. RBI rules stipulate that all old private banks need to raise their networth to Rs 300 crore. According to ET, there are more banks that have not achieved networth of Rs 300 crore. They include Catholic Syrian Bank, City Union Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank and Nainital Bank.

(Source: vccircle.com)